I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, September 6, 2013

125 Years Later - A Look Back at The Ripper’s Second Victim, Annie Chapman

Annie Chapman

She
was known as “Dark Annie” because of her dark brown hair, but Annie Chapman was
just another of Whitechapel’s “fallen women,” until the autumn of 1888 when that
could end up costing you your life.

Annie
Chapman was born in Paddington, England in September 1841 to George Smith and
Ruth Chapman. (Her parents married six months later.)Annie married a relative of her mother’s,
John Chapman, on May 1st, 1869 in Knightsbridge.

Annie and John Chapman

John
worked as a domestic coachman in order to support Annie and their two girls. By
1881, he was working as a farm bailiff, a type of supervisor who oversaw
several tenant farms, collecting rents and making sure the farms were taken
care of for the actual landowner. It was during this time that the Chapman’s
had their only son, who was a cripple.

By
1885 Annie had tired of married life and took to the streets in London, selling
crochet work, matches, and flowers. John Chapman provided Annie with a small
allowance to help her get by, but she began making up the difference with
casual prostitution.

Charingham's Lodging

Annie
moved in with Jack Sivvey, a sieve maker, in 1886 and called herself Mrs. Sivvey.
The arrangement was short-lived and Annie was soon on her own again, this time
without the assistance of her husband John, who had died on Christmas Day 1886.

Over
the next couple of years, Annie lived in several lodging and workhouses,
eventuallybecoming a regular at the Crossingham’s Lodging House.

It
was on Saturday, September 1, 1888 that Annie fought with another lodger, Eliza
Cooper over a bar of soap. It appeared that Annie got the raw end of the deal
and was sporting bruises and complaining of feeling ill on Monday the 3rd.On September 4th her friend,
Amelia Palmer noticed that Annie had not been drinking because of her pain.
Palmer told Annie to go to the casual ward and get treated for her injuries.

Amelia Palmer

Annie
was back at Crossingham’s Lodging House on Friday, September 5th and
spent the afternoon sitting in the kitchen because she felt unwell. She left
later in the day and met with her sister who gave her some money. Annie then
ran into Amelia Palmer, and again complained of feeling ill.

Later
in the evening Annie went to the hospital for some medicine and stopped along
the

way to spend her money on beer. She then returned to sit in the lodging
house kitchen to eat a late supper. Around 2 a.m. John Evans, the lodging house night watchman
turned her out for not having money enough for a bed.

Dark
Annie said that she would earn her bed money and return soon, but many thought
she was deep in her cups when she headed towards Spitalfields.

The
next four hours of Annie’s life remain a mystery, but at 5:50 a.m. her body was
discovered in the fenced backyard at 29 Hanbury Street. Unfortunately, sometime
during the night Annie had made the acquaintance of Jack the Ripper.

29 Hanbury Street

Backyard of No. 29

Annie’s
body was discovered a little before 6 a.m. by John Davis, a carman who lived at
Number 29. The body was lying parallel with the fence, the head turned toward
the house and the clothing pulled up around her waist. The abdomen had been
ripped open and the throat cut so severely the head was nearly decapitated.

Davis
reported the murder to the Commercial Street Police Station. Inspector Joseph
Chandler was quickly on site clearing the Hanbury Street yard of spectators and
sightseers.

Dr. Phillips Examines Chapman's Body

Dr.
George Philips, the divisional police surgeon arrived by 6:30 a.m. According to
Phillips testimony at the inquest, "The
left arm was placed across the left breast. The legs were drawn up, the feet
resting on the ground, and the knees turned outwards. The face was swollen and
turned on the right side. The tongue protruded between the front teeth, but not
beyond the lips...

Annie Chapman

Annie Chapman's Death Certificate

“The
throat was dissevered deeply; that the incisions through the skin were jagged
and reached right round the neck...On the wooden paling between the yard in
question and the next, smears of blood, corresponding to where the head of the
deceased lay, were to be seen."

Phillips
ordered Chapman’s body to be taken to the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary for a
post mortem examination. Workers at the morgue were told not to touch the body,
but preceded to strip and wash it (just as they had Mary Ann Nichols) before a thorough
examination could be performed.

Coroner Wynne Baxter

Chapman Inquest

On
September 10th an inquest into the death of Annie Chapman was held at the
WorkingLad’s Institute in Whitechapel.Coroner
Wynne E. Baxter conducted the inquest, just as he had for Polly Nichols (the
first confirmed Ripper victim) ten days before.

Dr.
Phillips reported during the inquest that Chapman was in poor health due an
advanced case of tuberculosis, but he concluded that she had been sober for
several hours before her death. Her swollen face and protruding tongue indicted
strangulation, and he believed that she had died some time before 4:30 a.m.

Phillips
told the inquest that the abdomen had been cut open and the intestines severed
from the body and placed above the shoulder. The uterus and the upper portion
of the vagina had been completely removed.

When
asked about the surgical skill of the murderer Phillips said, “'the
work was that of anexpert- or one, at least, who had such knowledge of
anatomical or pathological examinations as to be enabled to secure the pelvic
organs with one sweep of the knife'.

Conflicting
reports and testimonies were given by several witnesses as to the type of man
Annie was seen with, what was reportedly said, and what time she was last seen
alive. In the end, a verdict of willful murder against a person or persons
unknown was entered.

The
Ripper had claimed his second victim.

Manor Park Cemetery

Annie
Chapman was buried on Friday, September 14th at Manor Park Cemetery.
Annie’s family met the hearse at the cemetery, thereby keeping the funeral
secret until after her burial. Her name, date of death and age were inscribed
upon her elm coffin.

Annie
Chapman’s grave no longer exists. It has since been reused and buried over.

About Me

I
love wine and will take any chance to sip, savor and share it! Hence, Joy’s JOY
of Wine http://joysjoyofwine.blogspot.com,
a weekly blog about all things wine. I've been in the industry for 15
years as a winery owner, marketing director, speaker, writer, wine judge, and
100% vino girl!

I'm
also a professional freelance magazine and book writer uncorking articles about
wine, food, history, travel, cemetery history and culture. My interest in
cemetery culture led to another great, or maybe I should say
"grave" gig, my weekly blog: A Grave Interest http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com where I get to travel around the country and speak about cemetery topics for genealogy, history and
education conferences.

I suppose you could say that wine is my
passion, and cemeteries are my diversion ... into another world.

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